College Republicans president goes with the flow

‘ ‘ ‘ Fear not, Pittsburgh fans. College Republicans president Pat Graham still rooted for the… ‘ ‘ ‘ Fear not, Pittsburgh fans. College Republicans president Pat Graham still rooted for the Steelers yesterday evening. ‘ ‘ ‘ He said he would not root against Pittsburgh’s hometown heroes, despite the theory that says the incumbent party will win the presidential election if the Redskins win their game prior to the election. ‘ ‘ ‘ An avid interest in football is merely one of the many things the constantly busy Graham has on his plate. In between a class and instructing a recitation for applied college algebra yesterday, Graham spent a small amount of downtime at Panera Bread. ‘ ‘ ‘ It was a rare moment. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘There’s never a time where I have an hour with nothing to do,’ said Graham, a member of three different clubs and a teaching assistant for two mathematics courses. ‘I always have something to do.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘It’s tough. Sometimes I feel I stretch myself too thin. I was reluctant to run for president again, and everyone I talked to encouraged me. It’s tough to take care of everything, tough to balance it all. It takes a lot of sacrificing sleep.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Sporting a McCain/Palin ’08 shirt from the Pittsburgh Stop outside vendor, Graham grinned from across the table. ‘ ‘ ‘ From the moment he gets up until falling asleep at 1 or 2 a.m., Graham spends his day studying for and attending classes, replying to e-mails from campaign coordinators and students and attending club meetings. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Around 10 or 11 [p.m.], I study and do homework,’ said Graham. After pausing to take a deep breath, he added, ‘I sleep a lot on the weekends.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Now a junior with a double major in actuarial mathematics and economics and statistics, Graham first got involved with the College Republicans when he was a freshman. As a sophomore, he was chosen to be the group’s president. ‘ ‘ ‘ He is also the scholarship chair for his fraternity, Phi Delta Theta, and the business manager for the Actuarial Club. ‘ ‘ ‘ Amid his blushing after calling himself a nerd, Graham described his passion for mathematics. ‘ ‘ ‘ He said he feels the same excitement for math that any non-math nerd feels when they complete a Sudoku. ‘ ‘ ‘ One of his favorite professors, calculus instructor Chris Lennard, was able to bring that out in him. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘He was the first professor I ever, ever had,’ said Graham. ‘He was just a real goofy guy. He had a real passion for what he was doing and described equations by running around the classroom, doing goofy things and throwing chalk at the chalkboard.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Graham’s mind quickly turns back to today’s election. ‘ ‘ ‘ He will help coordinate people to work the polls, though he will not be working them himself. He has a test in his introduction to film course, and then he is going home to be with his family in the South Hills. ‘ ‘ ‘ As the youngest of three brothers, Graham said he loves spending time with his family. One of his favorite memories is going to the beach with them. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We had this one vacation spot that was just a farm my dad’s friend had. I loved running around in the corn fields with my brothers and shooting bows and arrows at targets we’d set up,’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ Tonight, Graham will attend the election party for U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa. ‘ ‘ ‘ No matter the outcome of the presidential election, Graham said he is willing to be optimistic before he is critical, even if Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama wins. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I’m the type of person who wants to give the new president a chance, to wait and see what he does and how,’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ While he endorses Sen. John McCain, Graham said he thinks Obama has good intentions. To Graham, Democrats and Republicans are not as different as many people seem to think. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘Democrats and Republicans want the same things and have the same goals,’ he said. ‘We just have different opinions on how to get them.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Before leaving for his recitation, Graham put just one more idea on the table. He said he’d like to run for office one day and that he believed his experiences in the College Republicans prepared him for involvement in the political process. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I don’t want to be a career politician or a political hack,’ said Graham. ‘One day, I would like to run and hopefully change our country for the better.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Editor’s Note: College Democrats president Lissa Geiger declined to be part of a similar report.